Top Editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer Is Dismissed

In the latest example of management turmoil at The Philadelphia Inquirer, William K. Marimow was fired as the paper’s top editor on Monday.

The news was announced in a brief e-mail sent to staff members in the morning by the newspaper’s publisher, Robert J. Hall.

Mr. Marimow, a former investigative journalist and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, had been rehired as The Inquirer’s top editor shortly after the newspaper was bought in April 2012 by a group of local investors that acquired the Philadelphia Media Network, which also publishes The Daily News and Philly.com. The return of Mr. Marimow, who was the top editor at The Inquirer from 2006 to 2010, had been viewed as an effort by new owners to reassure staff members shaken by cost-cutting measures and changes in management.

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Bill Marimow had been serving as editor of The Inquirer for the second time.Credit
Joseph Kaczmarek/Associated Press

But after Mr. Marimow attended the paper’s 10:30 a.m. news meeting on Monday, he was fired by Mr. Hall. Within minutes, Mr. Hall distributed a memo that read: “Please be advised that effective immediately, Bill Marimow is no longer employed by Interstate General Media, Inc. We wish Bill well in his future endeavors. Stan Wischnowski will become acting editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer.” Mr. Wischnowski also replaced Mr. Marimow in 2010.

The dismissal stirred reaction on Twitter and blogs about Mr. Marimow’s departure and spawned speculation about whether all of the investors knew that Mr. Marimow was to be let go. The investor group running The Inquirer includes George E. Norcross III, who is a Democratic power broker in South Jersey, and the parking lot magnate Lewis Katz.

According to several people familiar with the company’s operations, there have been many conflicts among the upper ranks of the company. Mr. Norcross and Mr. Katz had disagreements about the paper’s editorial direction, said these people, declining to speak for attribution about private conversations. Mr. Norcross and Mr. Katz also declined to comment.

At 2 p.m. on Monday, Mr. Hall called a newsroom meeting to explain his decision to fire Mr. Marimow and told staff members not to speak about his comments. Mr. Hall declined to speak to a reporter about Mr. Marimow’s departure. But he said in a statement that most of the owners were aware of his decision.

“As part of Interstate General Media’s corporate documents, this ownership group agreed not to be involved in the editorial affairs and journalistic operations of The Inquirer,” he said. “The decision to terminate Bill Marimow as editor of The Inquirer was made by me and Associate Publisher Mike Lorenca, which is within our authority to make such a decision. Although not required, five out of six of our directors/owners have concurred in our decision to terminate Bill Marimow.” They include Mr. Norcross and Mr. Katz, along with H.F. Lenfest, Joseph E. Buckelew, William P. Hankowsky and Krishna P. Singh II.

David Carr contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on October 8, 2013, on Page B4 of the New York edition with the headline: Top Editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer Is Dismissed. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe